Ryanair refuses to refund ticket of passenger who passed away as 'she died too soon'

Budget airline Ryanair has made a public apology after initially refusing to refund the ticket of an elderly woman who passed after battle with cancer.

78-year-old Beryl Parsons was due to fly to the Canary Islands with her son and grandchildren for a vacation in October, but in June, four months before the flight, she was told she only had three weeks left to live and died.

The Daily Mail reports that her son Doug Parsons implored the airline to refund his mother's $355 portion of the $1658 total charge of the fares from Stansted to Fuerteventura, including a copy of her death certificate.

The trip the family had planned to take was to the same villa that they had travelled to five years prior. "To be honest I thought it would be her last ever holiday because her mobility was so poor and I booked all sorts of diability services for her at the airport," say Parsons.

Reportedly, the first thing that Parsons said after being given the bad news was, "Oh, I suppose I will have to cancel my holiday then."

In a letter back to Parsons, the airline refused the refund, saying in the letter that because Mrs. Parsons had died more than 28 days before the flight, that put her outside of the company's terms and conditions which state, "In the case of bereavement of an immediate family member... within 28 days of intended travel we will... make a refund."

Monday night, the airline rescinded its refusal and apologized to Parsons after he "threatened to take the flight and strap an urn containing his mother's ashes to what would have been her seat."

"I would also have put the ashes in the wheelchair that I had reserved for her at the airport, and I would have filmed everything and posted the video on YouTube."

As the family grieves their loss, Parsons relates that because of the frustration that came with dealing with Ryanair, he will never travel with the airline again.